Emiliano Buendía named official 2026 UEFA Europa League final Player of the Match
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
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Aston Villa forward Emiliano Buendía has been named Hankook Player of the Match after scoring one goal and setting up another.
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Emiliano Buendía has been named Hankook Player of the Match after scoring a stunning goal and setting up another for Morgan Rogers as Aston Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 in the 2026 UEFA Europa League final in Istanbul.
The UEFA Technical Observer panel said: "It was a quality performance. He was very good between the lines, played good passes throughout and led the team's attacking intensity. Capped off with a great goal and assist."
Player of the Match: Previous finals
2025 Cristian Romero (Tottenham)
2024 Ademola Lookman (Atalanta)
2023 Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
2022 Kevin Trapp (Frankfurt)
2021 Étienne Capoue (Villarreal)
2020 Luuk de Jong (Sevilla)
2019 Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
2018 Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid)
2017 Ander Herrera (Manchester United)
2016 Coke (Sevilla)
2015 Éver Banega (Sevilla)
2014 Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla)
2013 Branislav Ivanović (Chelsea)
2012 Radamel Falcao (Atlético)
2011 Radamel Falcao (Porto)
2010 Diego Forlán (Atlético de Madrid)
2009 Darijo Srna (Shakhtar)
2008 Andrey Arshavin (Zenit)
2007 Andrés Palop (Sevilla)
2006 Enzo Maresca (Sevilla)
2005 Daniel Carvalho (CSKA Moskva)
2004 Roberto Ayala (Valencia)
2003 Derlei (Porto)
2002 Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord)
2001 Gary McAllister (Liverpool)
2000 Cláudio Taffarel (Galatasaray)
1999 Hernán Crespo (Parma)
1998 Ronaldo (Inter)